What is Ethereum gas?

Ethereum gas is what users pay to process transactions or use smart contracts on the Ethereum network. Ethereum gas is denominated in gwei, short for gigawei, with one gwei equal to one billionth of an ETH. Ethereum gas fees can only be paid in Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH).

How do ETH transactions work?

Your transaction total is the ETH purchase amount plus the gas fee. The validator receives gas fees. The validator that processed your transaction receives the tip portions of your gas fee and the gas fees from all the transactions in the block. The base fees are “burned”—removed from circulation—to prevent ETH currency inflation.

How do I buy ETH?

Using the platform or crypto exchange of your choice, you can initiate a transaction—to purchase ETH, in this example. You would input your desired purchase amount and other relevant information. You approve an estimated gas fee. The platform provides you with an estimate for the Ethereum gas fee.

How much does ETH gas cost?

At the moment ETH Gas Station says a standard gas price is 4 gwei, so that's a good figure to put into MetaMask. At current prices, 21000 * 4 gwei should cost about $0.06 USD. MetaMask may very well suggest a higher gas price, but you can (and probably should) just change it to be more in line with what ETH Gas Station suggests.